Learning Center
The buying timeline.
A Washington purchase runs on a contract calendar — miss a deadline and you can lose the protection it carried. Here's the whole road from budget to keys: what happens at each stage, who's involved, what you do, and where deals wobble. Tick off your action items as you go.
Durations below are typical for Washington and negotiable — your contract sets the real deadlines, and your broker’s job is to keep every one of them ahead of you instead of behind you. Selling instead? There’s a mirror timeline for sellers.
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Preparation & budget Start whenever
Start whenever
What happens
You decide what a comfortable monthly payment looks like — before a lender or a listing decides for you. Sketch the payment at today's rates, take an honest look at savings and debts, and pull your own credit reports so nothing surprises you later.
Who’s involved
Just you (and anyone buying with you). No commitments to anyone yet.
Your action items
Watch out for
Shopping listings before shopping your own budget — falling for a home you haven't priced into your life is how buyers overstretch.
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Pre-approval Typically a few days
Typically a few days
What happens
A lender verifies your income, assets, and credit and issues a pre-approval letter — the document that makes your offer real in this market. Sellers' brokers read the letter before they read the offer.
Who’s involved
You and a lender (or two — comparing Loan Estimates is allowed and smart). Your broker can suggest lenders who close on time.
Your action items
Watch out for
Treating the maximum approval as the budget. The lender approves what you can technically repay; only you know what you can comfortably live on.
On the water: Financing floats differently — many floating homes need specialty or portfolio lenders, and FOWRs are boat-loan territory. Sort the lender question before you fall for a dock. How floating-home deals work
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Search & tour As long as it takes
As long as it takes
What happens
Now the fun part — with a budget and a letter in hand, you tour with intent. Your broker sets up the search, flags what listings don't say, and gets you into homes fast when the right one appears.
Who’s involved
You and your buyer's broker; listing brokers at tours and open houses.
Your action items
Watch out for
Open-house autopilot. Unrepresented buyers wandering in alone become the listing agent's easiest conversation of the day.
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Offer & negotiation Often 1–3 days, negotiable
Often 1–3 days, negotiable
What happens
Your broker drafts the purchase and sale agreement: price, earnest money, contingencies, closing date. The seller accepts, rejects, or counters — and terms can matter as much as price.
Who’s involved
You, your broker, the seller and their broker.
Your action items
Watch out for
Waiving inspection to win a bidding war without understanding what you're absorbing — on unique homes especially, that gamble compounds.
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Mutual acceptance & earnest money Earnest money typically due within ~2 days
Earnest money typically due within ~2 days
What happens
Both sides have signed — you're 'under contract.' Your earnest money goes into escrow (a neutral third party), the contingency clocks start ticking, and the transaction calendar is now the law of the deal.
Who’s involved
Escrow opens the file; your broker calendars every deadline.
Your action items
Watch out for
Missing a contingency deadline. In Washington the timelines are enforceable as written — a lapsed deadline can waive the protection it carried.
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Inspection contingency Commonly 7–10 days, negotiable
Commonly 7–10 days, negotiable
What happens
Your inspector examines the home top to bottom, you attend if you possibly can, and then you negotiate: proceed, request repairs or credits, or walk with your earnest money per the contingency terms.
Who’s involved
A licensed inspector, you, your broker — plus specialty pros (sewer scope, roofer, electrician) when the general inspection flags something.
Your action items
Watch out for
Negotiating repairs from adjectives instead of bids. 'The panel looks old' wins you nothing; a licensed electrician's number wins the credit.
On the water: Here the inspection goes underwater — a marine survey and dive inspection of the float, stringers, and flotation is the floating-home equivalent of the foundation check. Budget for it and book early; divers schedule out. How floating-home deals work
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Appraisal & financing contingency Typically 1–3 weeks, lender-dependent
Typically 1–3 weeks, lender-dependent
What happens
The lender orders an appraisal to confirm the home is worth the loan, and underwriting verifies everything in your file. If the appraisal comes in low, you renegotiate, cover the gap, or lean on the contingency.
Who’s involved
The appraiser, your lender's underwriter, you (supplying documents fast).
Your action items
Watch out for
New debt during underwriting. Lenders re-pull credit before closing; a financed sofa has genuinely delayed closings.
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Title review Runs in parallel
Runs in parallel
What happens
The title company searches the property's history — liens, easements, encroachments — and commits to insuring your ownership. You review the preliminary commitment and ask about anything odd.
Who’s involved
Title officer, escrow, your broker.
Your action items
Watch out for
Skimming the exceptions page. Easements and use restrictions survive closing whether or not you read them.
On the water: For floating homes, 'title' includes the moorage — co-op share or lease transfer approval runs alongside the title work, and the dock's rules can require board sign-off. Start that approval early. How floating-home deals work
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Signing Typically 1–3 days before closing
Typically 1–3 days before closing
What happens
Washington closes through escrow — there's no big table with both sides. You sign your loan and transfer documents at the escrow office, wet-ink and notarized, a few days before the closing date.
Who’s involved
You and the escrow officer (a notary); the seller signs separately.
Your action items
Watch out for
Wire fraud. Emailed 'updated wire instructions' at signing week is the classic scam — always verify by phone with a known number.
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Funding & recording — closing day The contract's closing date
The contract's closing date
What happens
The lender funds the loan, escrow balances the file, and the deed records with the county. Recording is the legal moment you own the home — most buyers spend closing day just waiting for the confirmation call.
Who’s involved
Lender, escrow, the county recorder. You, mostly by phone.
Your action items
Watch out for
Recording cutoffs. Counties stop recording at a set time; a late funding condition can roll closing to the next business day.
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Possession — keys Per your contract
Per your contract
What happens
Keys change hands per the possession terms in your contract — often on recording, sometimes a negotiated day or two later if the seller rented back. Then it's yours: change the locks, find the water shutoff, meet the dock.
Who’s involved
You, your broker, and a locksmith worth calling.
Your action items
Two tools carry you through the money stages: estimate your total cash to close before pre-approval, and read the closing-day guide before signing week so nothing at the escrow office surprises you. Somewhere between stages and unsure what applies to your deal? Ask Linda.
“Linda has been an amazing realtor. I met her when I was buying a houseboat, and she knew everything and everyone, making the process much easier than it could have been. Later she got my offer accepted on a condo against a cash offer…”
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